Marlins looking for third, second and catching help

It appears that Dan Jennings has flexibility Larry Beinfest did not, and as he has reconstructed his front office with the additions of Craig Weissmann from Oakland, Jeff McAvoy from Tampa and Mike Berger from Arizona, some flexibility as far as trades are concerned.

The Marlins have a wealth of young pitchers, starting with Jose Fernandez and 2012 first pick Andrew Heaney, and are presently looking for third base, second base and catching help, as well as some veterans to fill some leadership voids. They have discussed former Dodger second baseman Mark Ellis, who has also been the radar of the Tigers. Despite the fact they drafted former North Carolina third baseman Colin Moran with the sixth pick in the 2013 draft, they approached the Red Sox about their 22-year old third baseman Garin Cecchini, who would seem to be similar to Moran. Cecchini has a minor league on base percentage of .417, but also has but 14 home runs in parts of three seasons, although one executive covering the Arizona Fall League says “Cecchini has sneaky power that will play in the big leagues and will keep increasing in pro ball.”

The eventual move might have been to put Cecchini at first when Moran is ready, but it is a moot point because the Red Sox told the Marlins they have no interest in trading Cecchini.

Peter Gammons

Peter Gammons is a Hall of Fame baseball columnist and he has covered the game of baseball for the Boston Globe, ESPN and the MLB Network. GammonsDaily.com features analysis from Peter Gammons as well as some of nation's top baseball analysts.